Gender and Learning -- Reaction

Reserve Reading
Sarah Glazer

I was surprised to find mention of John Hopkins University's program Center for Talented Youth mentioned in that article since I was part of that program for four years, as was my sister. Both of us scored higher on verbal than on math, as did most of the girls I know who participated in the program. There's always the odd one out though, at times there are several, but as long as they are in the minority they're still the odd ones out. Although much of what is said in the article is true, from both sides of every argument, there remains the women and men who break the rules or stereotypes and I think that needs to be remembered. All this study of the brain that says men are better at this than women makes the reader forget that although there are more men than women, there are still many successful women as well.

Like all arguments that come down to nature versus nurture, I think it has to be a combination of the two. There's indisputable differences between the brain chemistry of men and women and that has to have some effect, but it isn't everything. Neither is the environment the only factor. Lives of people are made up of so many variables that it's almost impossible to completely simplify them. There's some evidence though that teaching styles effect children differently because when schools switch to one or another it does make a difference.

There's something to be said for the fact that learning at earlier levels have evened out significantly. I think that the reason there are so few female professors compared to the number of females with high degrees is because of the previous generations view on gender differences, and when the current more androgynous generation reaches the higher levels of education and of every factor of the work force than hopefully and most likely in my mind the fields will even out, at least as much as people want them too.